Online Fundraising for Schools, Churches, Non-Profits, and Charities.

Free Educational Publications International, Inc., works with non-profit organizations with their online fundraising needs. Our organizations consist of churches, schools, and charities. I am excited to contribute to the non-profit blog exchange. The mechanics of the non-profit blog exchange is simple, each author writes about another blog on the Internet. The explosive growth of the Internet is fascinating, and there is not enough time in the day to learn about all the ideas and concepts being shared in the most powerful publishing medium available to us, the world wide web.

My family is spending Christmas Eve with the in-laws. My wife’s parents own a beautiful home in Bend, Oregon where the relaxed pace, scent of junipers, and open space is a welcome change from the Los Angeles hustle and bustle. My task at hand this Christmas Eve is to write an article about Betsy’s blog and add my contribution to the non-profit blog exchange.

I have never met Betsy Harman nor do I know anything about Betsy. However, the amazing thing about the Internet is that I can “Google” Betsy and do research about her blog, or I can read her hundreds of articles dating back to July 2003 published on her website. I quickly realized that Betsy’s blogs are of great interest to me! Betsy is a philanthropist, and her articles deal with “random thoughts about online fundraising, e-mail marketing, and the web”.

Online fundraising is my expertise because Free Educational Publications International, Inc. is utilizing online advertising and marketing to fuel the academic mission. Through our network, we also provide a free turn-key solution to online fundraising in a way that will deliver thousands of dollars to schools, charities, non-profits, and churches.

Figure 1: The Shift in Advertising Dollars

(click on image for presentation)
The changes in publishing modalities influence advertising dollars (see Figure 1 and presentation). It is estimated that 70% of consumers use the Internet to find merchants and services, which is equal to the percentage using newspapers (reference). Online publishing companies face new opportunities to capture a piece of the multi-billion dollar online advertising budget. While pay-per-click advertising has propelled Google’s advertising revenue beyond $5 billion a year (GOOG), affiliate marketing is an alternative form of online advertising that is far more attractive to advertisers.

For example, Super Bowl advertising costs a hefty $2 million for a 30 second slot. Merchants will receive brand recognition when advertising during the Super Bowl, but some merchants may receive little business from their advertising investment. Let’s consider an advertiser like Discover Card®. When was the last time you signed up for a credit card after seeing a television commercial? I have yet to meet a person who has picked up the phone and signed up for a credit card after viewing a television commercial. However, with online advertising, the consumer is more likely to sign-up for a credit card when the benefits of a particular credit card are clearly displayed. Moreover, the consumer is more likely to sign up for a new card if his or her favorite organization receives $28, which will be elaborated more later. If the credit card company pays only when a consumer actually signs up for a credit card via their website, then this form of “online advertising” is far more economical. Discover Card® , therefore, pays affiliate marketers $40 per credit card referral. Instead of using the $2 million that would have been spent for a Super Bowl commercial slot, Discover Card® will gain 50,000 new customers through affiliate marketing using Internet publishers.

Affiliate marketing is a growing industry and is sustainable. We employ affiliate marketing to help schools, charities, non-profits, and churches raise money for their organizations. In the U.S., Internet shopping exceeds $120 billion per year and is projected to grow at 20% yearly. As advertising budgets shift from newspapers, radio, and television to the Internet, merchants will increase their advertising expenditures on banner, pay-per-click, and affiliate advertising.

We create a free online virtual mall for every organization we serve. By simply purchasing through these sites, consumers will be adding their voice in support of their favorite schools, charities, non-profit organizations, and churches. When a supporter shops through an organization’s Virtual Mall, the organization receives a check for 70% of all the profit earned from that site. This is a great opportunity to raise capital at no cost, with no money pressures and with no administrative requirements.

I applaud Betsy Harman and her blog dedicated to helping organizations learn about online fundraising for their missions and programs.

References

http://www.techweb.com/wire/ebiz/162101194
http://www.utexas.edu/features/2005/advertising/
http://informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=159904660

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